Lulabop, the Seattle-based lifestyle startup which created an “Invention We Love” at the 2016 GeekWire Summit with its multi-use carabiner/hook called the Qliplet, announced this week that it has raised $500,000 in a new funding round. Qliplet is also being refocused, and the brand and signature product are now called HEROCLIP. Mina Yoo, the former University of Washington profressor who is CEO and inventor of the HEROCLIP, said in a news release that in order to “grow from thousands of units per month to millions, we knew we needed more capital resources.” HEROCLIP’s group of Pacific Northwest-based investors, directors and advisors include David Bohan, former CFO and… Read More

Lulabop, the Seattle-based lifestyle startup which created an “Invention We Love” at the 2016 GeekWire Summit with its multi-use carabiner/hook called the Qliplet, announced this week that it has raised $500,000 in a new funding round. Qliplet is also being refocused, and the brand and signature product are now called HEROCLIP.

The new HEROCLIP. (Lulabop Photo)

Mina Yoo, the former University of Washington profressor who is CEO and inventor of the HEROCLIP, said in a news release that in order to “grow from thousands of units per month to millions, we knew we needed more capital resources.”

HEROCLIP’s group of Pacific Northwest-based investors, directors and advisors include David Bohan, former CFO and COO of Brooks Running and Filson; Rob Harris, CEO of PMI (maker of Stanley and Aladdin bottles); the SWAN Fund (a seed-stage fund managed by Jim Reed); and Andy Liu, a Seattle entrepreneur.

“HEROCLIP was received extremely well by our early customers, and we had the momentum to become a global brand,” Yoo said.

The product, designed to hold and hang gear for everyone from outdoor enthusiasts to garage reorganziers, can be found in Brookstone stores on on Amazon.com. It’s also coming to ACE Hardware stores, where it will be part of an “Innovative Products Display” later this year.

The infusion of capital will allow HEROCLIP to grow its product line in 2017, adding different sizes and styles, with a price point ranging from $9.95 to $24.95.

“We doubled our Q1 projections and are in the process of rounding out our board of directors,” Yoo said. “I couldn’t be happier about where things are headed for us.”

Watch Yoo during her “Inventions We Love” presentation at the GeekWire Summit last fall (forward to 17:38 mark):